Gratitude for Health

Studies show that gratitude corresponds with living longer and with lower levels of depression and other diseases. Natural medicine author Michael T. Murray, ND, has become convinced that cultivating a spirit of gratitude is the foundational secret to health.

“There’s a reason that the practice of giving thanks became so common in the world’s religions,” he says. “When you do it, it opens the door to finding more and more to be thankful for.”

Neurological studies have found that “training” oneself to look for positives increases the mind’s ability to experience satisfaction and joy, and can also result in physical benefits. Research has proven that stress weakens the immune system, so working towards a more positive outlook that reduces our worries and anxieties may strengthen the immune system. Some of the studies haven't been able to prove cause and effect, but most of the studies published on this topic support an association between gratitude and an individual's well-being. University of California Davis psychology professor Robert Emmons, one of the leading researchers in the field of gratitude, says: "Grateful people take better care of themselves and engage in more protective health behaviors like regular exercise, a healthy diet, regular physical examinations."

One study of a group of people suffering from various neuromuscular diseases, including post-polio syndrome, divided the participants into three groups, each one making weekly entries in a journal. One group wrote five things they were grateful for, the second group described five daily hassles, and a control group listed five events that had affected them in some way. The people using daily gratitude journals reported more satisfaction with their lives and were more optimistic about the future than the control group. Interestingly, the gratitude group also reported getting more sleep, spending less time awake before falling asleep, and feeling more refreshed in the morning. A similar study showed that people who did the gratitude journal reported fewer physical problems and spent more time working out than did the control group.

Gratitude is also contagious. In an experiment at Northeastern University, Monica Bartlett and David DeSteno sabotaged each participant’s computer and arranged for another student to fix it. Afterward, the students who had been helped were likelier to volunteer to help someone else - a complete stranger - with an unrelated task, creating further feelings of gratitude.

Like so many things that are good for us, cultivating gratitude takes practice, but it doesn't have to be time-consuming to be effective. You can start with a weekly gratitude journal. In the two journalling studies above, participants were instructed to write one sentence each about five things they were grateful for, and the effects were evident after only two months.

Another useful exercise comes from Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. He tested the impact of various positive psychology interventions on 411 people, comparing each exercise with a control assignment of writing about early memories. When the group's assignment was to write and personally deliver a letter of gratitude to someone who had never been properly thanked for his or her kindness, participants immediately exhibited a huge increase in happiness scores. This impact was greater than that from any other intervention, with benefits lasting for a month.

Researchers also advise people to increase their feelings of gratitude by monitoring their "self-talk" and gently shifting themselves towards more positive thoughts. When you notice yourself grumbling about a negative event or cause of stress in your life, try to think of 4 or 5 related things for which you are grateful. When you notice yourself negatively comparing yourself to someone else who has more, does more, or that you feel is superior to you, try to shift to compare yourself to people who have less than you (which reminds you how lucky you really are), or try to feel gratitude for having people in your life who can inspire you.

Daily reminders can also be helpful in exercising gratitude on a regular basis. Emmons suggests putting notes listing your blessings in places where you will see them regularly, such as on your refrigerator, mirrors, and the steering wheel of your car. Another strategy is to set a computer or cell phone to chime or been at random times during the day and to use that as a signal to pause and count your blessings.

However you choose to recognize it, we have so much to be grateful for, and appreciating that can only benefit us and those around us. Take a moment to count your blessings, and be healthier and happier for it.